Random Musings (Part II)

The Lent Trap
Though I believe there are variations of this rule, I'm told if you give up something for Lent, Sundays don't count. Having been raised a Protestant heathen, I don't entirely understand this. Supposedly Lent lasts 40 days, but technically spans a 46-day period (hence the free Sundays). I understand the logic behind this, but I don't understand it. It's also wrought with paradox. Imagine, if you will, a person gives up chocolate for Lent. It's his/her favorite snack, though they generally only indulge on it a couple times a week. And yet, giving it up for Lent exacerbates the desire for chocolate (that old cliche about wanting what you can't have). And so every Sunday, this person gorges him/herself on cookies and Snicker's Bars, eating at least twice as much during Lent as they ordinarily might.

Something to think about.

On Shuffle
I currently have about 3,000 songs on my iPod. When I jog outdoors, I put it on shuffle. When I work out inside, I generally only use it about 40% of the time, which amounts to about 3 hours (45 songs) of play time each week. And yet, each week of all those 3,000 songs, my iPod shuffles on to Tracy Chapman's "Almost" at least twice.

Speaking of Music
If you appreciate the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??" as much as I do, you might actually like this Postal Service remake. Though I still credit the song's appeal to the lyrics, I kind of like the Service version. But, if you despise sentimentality and aren't familiar with either take... "Do You Realize??" falls into the category of Carpe Diem ideology, and you may prefer to listen to some NIN instead.

The New (and Improved!) Three-Second Rule
We've all heard of the 3 Second Rule, right? —If food falls onto the ground, and you pick it up within three seconds, it's "safe" to eat. Being a germophobe myself, I've never subscribed to this rule... in my universe, if something falls onto the ground, you feed it to the dog, throw it away, OR — if no one's looking — scoop it back onto the plate and serve it to someone else.

OK, so that's THE 3 Second Rule. But walking in the hallway at work this morning, I started to consider another (unspoken) 3 Second Rule: if you detect someone is about to walk past you — and you suspect it's someone you see every day, but not necessarily someone you know — turn your eyes to the ground. If you accidentally make eye contact, turn away. If eye contact last longer than three seconds, you must utter an obligatory "Hello" (or at least nod in recognition). To do otherwise could result in either being labeled a curmudgeon for the remainder of your career or, even worse, being forced to endure countless more awkward encounters (the rate of which increases exponentially with every glance askance).